Dear Jeremy Corbyn,
I am writing from the Bristol and District Anti-Cuts Alliance (BADACA). We are an anti-austerity campaigning group, established in 2010 by the NUT and PCS unions.
As you know, in Bristol we have a Labour mayor, Marvin Rees. As with councils across the country we have been hit hard by Tory austerity, with a drastic reduction in funding. In September, BADACA members joined thousands of others on a demonstration against this, led by Marvin Rees. We welcomed this anti-austerity action from our mayor. However, his administration continued to prepare to carry out a wide range of cuts.
In Bristol this includes the closure of libraries and public toilets and cuts to day centres and school crossings. This is unacceptable. Yet it still only makes up a small proportion of the total spending cuts Rees is expected to make during his term in office. More vital services will be lost unless there is a change of direction.
Since the demonstration, Labour members and other anti-cuts activists have been discussing ways the council can avoid making cuts. Bristol Labour’s elected Local Campaign Forum adopted a resolution calling on the “Labour Mayor and Labour Councillors to suspend the £4.7 Million cuts to Bristol Services right NOW by using reserves or their borrowing power”. This decision has not yet been implemented.
Our council seems to believe they have no choice other than to cut. Councillors sometimes cite the letter you sent in 2015, instructing Labour councils to remain within the law. However, councils can set legal, no-cuts budgets. Bristol council has over £200m in usable reserves. Labour local authorities combined hold over £9bn in general fund reserves. Councils also have legal prudential borrowing powers. They could both balance the budget and protect services in the short term. This should be combined with building a mass campaign to win back the funding lost to Tory cuts. The Bristol demonstration gave a glimpse of the potential for such a campaign against a government that is weak and divided.
Given the urgency of fighting ever-deepening cuts and the advances that have been made by Labour’s anti-austerity message since 2015, we believe it is time for a new letter to be sent to Labour councils. There needs to be a more explicit anti-cuts instruction. You could advise on the options available to councils and urge them to set legal, no-cuts budgets. You could further encourage them by pledging that the next Labour government will restore local government funding and reimburse councils for reserves used to protect jobs and services. This would be a great support, both to Labour council leaders facing this situation and to Labour members and others opposing the cuts. It would also boost Labour’s standing and chances at the next election.
We believe that Labour’s anti-austerity message needs to be matched with action. Labour local authorities are potentially a powerful bastion of resistance against Tory austerity. Those positions should be used to protect services, not to cut them.
Yours in solidarity, Bristol and District Anti-Cuts Alliance
